My Finance Blog

I talked about credit reports and credit scores before. Just like what I said, having bad credit ratings could affect your future applications for loans and more credit cards (not that you need more credit cards if you’re already struggling to pay what you have). And truth is that, with plastic in your hands, there’s this urge to spend because you don’t need to carry lots of cash around, shops just swipe and the item is yours. How convenient. But convenience has its price, sometimes a BIG one, and you’ll end up with a long and dizzyingly large credit card statement by the end of the month.

Here are some practical tips on how to curb and curtail credit card spending:

1. Have somebody else hold onto your credit cards.

Find someone you can trust you can’t bully into giving you back your credit cards when you have this insane urge to buy something. Ask them to hide your cards from you or put them in a safe where only they know the lock combination to. Choose someone who can afford being hated during times when you’re feeling crazy and demand your cards back and they refuse. In short, don’t choose a pushover.

2. Don’t bring your credit cards with you.

When you go out, instead of carrying your credit cards with you, bring some cash. That way, you’re limited to what you have in your pocket and nothing else. If you’re used to shopping online and all you need is your card number and CVV, resist the urge to surf shopping web sites or better yet, if you really don’t need to, don’t go online at all until you’ve learned how to control yourself.

3. Hide your credit cards in hard to access locations.

If there’s no one else you can trust, hide your credit cards in locations which are difficult to access. This way, when you have this mad urge to spend and you’re on the way to getting your cards back, you have enough time to cool down before you get to you cards, and possibly, refrain yourself from spending.

Filed under: Credit Cards